


If You’re Still Breathing, You’re the Lucky One

by strawberrymatchavanilla99



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Anxiety, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Homelessness, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, May Is The Best, Panic Attacks, Peter Parker is a Good Bro, Protective May Parker (Spider-Man), Protective Tony Stark, References to Depression, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-23 13:38:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14935301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrymatchavanilla99/pseuds/strawberrymatchavanilla99
Summary: Damn it, she was just a teenage girl, homeless and alone in the world. Now that she was a mutant, she was the perfect outcast. She was the last person to be qualified to live with strange abilities of any sort.OrLila Sherman, a teenage homeless girl doesn't know what to do when she discovers she has superpowers.





	1. Shit I Have Useless Powers

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! *waves*  
> This fic was inspired (althought the plot of my fic is different) by the wonderful fic Child's Play by spicyjarvis. Serioulsy, go read it, it's GOLD. https://archiveofourown.org/works/13508445/chapters/30981360  
> Also, English isn't my first language, so I'm sorry if there's any grammar mistakes, I'm trying my best :)  
> Enjoy!

CHAPTER 1 - SHIT I HAVE USELESS POWERS

It’s the cold breeze on her cheeks that woke up Lila on that day. Her body shivering, the teenage girl sat while stretching her muscles. She had been homeless for a year and a long ago forgot the comfort of a bed. She was only thankful to have found a good spot to sleep; she was currently hiding under some sort of stairs in one of New York’s alley. The stairs somewhat made her think about Harry Potter and she drew some sort of comfort in that, knowing that her childhood hero had faced similar problems.

Except Harry still had a home.

But no one wanted Lila.

Even Uncle Simon and Aunt Megan had kicked her out. The thought filled Lila with deep sadness, even though she knew she had deserved it.

Lila decided she wasn’t going to think about that again. She grabbed her bag and started to walk in direction of New York’s shore, her usual spot to find food or money, hoping this day would be her lucky day.

God she had no idea.

She walked down the big boulevard, noticing all the people around her. She spotted a well-dressed lady, playing near the water with a little boy. The blonde child kept laughing and it made Lila’s heart melt a bit.

She sat down on the sidewalk and paused. _Another day of being miserable, i guess._ Her mind quickly slipped away, while her eyes kept watching the shore.

The scream made her jump. Now standing, she turned her head, trying to find what was wrong. It was the well-dressed lady that kept screaming and Lila saw why : the boy was now in the river, sinking. It felt like her heart stopped.

Before Lila could fully analyse the situation, she found herself in the river.

She had jumped to save the kid.

It took her a while to spot the kid in the dark water. She swam harder. The boy seemed unconscious, and wasn’t moving at all. He was in front of her. She could almost reach him. She didn’t care if she was suffocating because she had been under the water for too long, or if the cold river was making her senses less and less effective. She HAD TO SAVE him. No matter the cost. Flashback of her little sister kept coming to her mind and Lila wondered if she was dying. _It’s not like anyone’s gonna miss me, anyway_ , she thought. She tried to swim towards the light, but her head seemed to be filled only with the screams of her sister, the flashbacks now taking control of her. Her feet were too heavy. She couldn’t save him, just like she couldn’t save her sister. With her last strength, she pushed the kid up and fell into the peace of the unconscious ones.

The first thing Lila noticed when she regained consciousness was the contact of her wet body on the hard ground. It didn’t really make sense to her since she should be dead. Maybe she was dead and her senses were just playing tricks on her. She opened her eyes to be sure she really was alive, and then noticed the face of a man standing above her. Did she know him? She didn’t think so. Lila wanted to say something, but she only had time to turn her head to the side as her body convulsed violently to cough and barf New York’s cleanest water. She tried to get up, but a firm hand - probably the hand of the man - held her in place.

“Don’t move, sweetheart. The ambulance is coming soon.”

Then everything hit her all at once. Oh God. She had just jumped into the river to save a child. Was he okay? Did he make it safely? Where was he? It was suddenly hard to breath and she could feel the tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

“Hey, you’re okay. The boy’s okay. Everything is fine. I pulled you both out of the water. You just hit your head. People are going to take care of you.” The man sighed and passed his hand upon his face. He added : “You did great, kid.”

The voice of the man was calming, but Lila still couldn’t get a hold on her breathing. Tears rolled on her cheeks freely, and she passed out for the second time as she heard sirens coming near.

When Lila woke up again, she realized it was dawn. She had spent the entire night in the small hospital room and felt a lot better. The sun was coming out shyly and light was starting to illuminate the place.

She hadn’t been in a bed for so long she had forgotten the feeling and only wanted to bury herself under the soft covers until the end of the times. But it didn’t work like that. She had to get out as fast as possible, before someone came to ask questions about her. She couldn’t tell them who she was, they would go annoy Uncle Simon and Aunt Megan, and that was the last thing she wanted. She had already caused them so much trouble, they didn’t need anyone to bother them because of her insignificant self. They deserved to be left in peace. And she didn’t deserve anything.

Her clothes laid still on the chair nearby her bed and she surprisingly found out they were completely dry. Losing no time, she changed and escaped her room. She was out the hospital a couple minutes later, and no one had seemed to notice that the injured teenager had left without a word.

Sitting under the stairs, memories kept coming into Lila’s mind. They took her a year ago, on a day she would never forget. The voice of Aunt Megan, had harshly said “Take out Yanissa. Go eat ice cream together.” Aunt Megan had grabbed her hand and had added with her firm voice ; “You take care of her.” Lila and her little sister Yanissa had gone out. She’d let her choose her favorite flavor - banana - and they had laughed a lot. Despite Yanissa being 5 years old, she used to be quite funny. Lila remembered her soft voice, “You are the bestest sister in the world!” If only she was. On their way back, they had just passed in front of a little shop when they heard gunshots inside. The robber, too high and drunk to be coherent, had fired all over the place. When Lila had turned around to check on her sister, her heart stopped. Yanissa was on the ground, a blood a pool quickly forming around her chest. Drops of blood staining the sidewalk. Lila had tried to stop the bleeding while the little girl had been screaming ;

“Lila! Make the pain stop! Please! Don’t leave me! Pleaseee!”

But she’d died before the ambulance came.

After that, Uncle Simon and Aunt Megan hadn’t want to see her. They had told her to pack her things and to go away.

And she did. She never came back.

She was all alone.

At least, she’d help to save the little boy, according to the man. She’d been at least able to do that. She probably should have thanked the stranger for saving her - and the boy - and wished she could have told the lady she hadn’t meant to lose consciousness and that she’d really tried her best to save the kid.

Her cheeks all wet from the tears, Lila managed to open her eyes. She looked up and froze.

_Shit, shit shit. What the hell is that?_

In front of her, the grass had changed color. It was a bright red.

Lila had learned in school about hallucinations and concluded that she was probably having one. After all, she had hit her head earlier. She fixed the spot of grass with all her attention, trying to get rid of the hallucination. As if it obeyed to her mind, the grass slowly turned green as it was before, leaving her confused.

She felt really strange and couldn’t tell if it was because of her possible head injury or something else. She slowly stood up and decided to go for a walk, hoping that the fresh air would do her some good.

Wandering around, Lila felt a very unpleasant feeling of déjà-vu when she heard a woman scream beside her. She looked at the lady with worry and follow her gaze. The fence nearby had turned into a dark purple instead of beige. _Great, another hallucination._ But the screams of the middle-aged lady seemed to contradict that fact.

_It’s...it’s not only in my head?_

  
The women ran away, but Lila didn’t even acknowledge it, still absorbed by the weird events. Just like the grass had turned back green, the fence slowly became beige again. A thought stuck in her head and petrified her.

_Am I making this?_

Turning around, she spotted on top of a garbage can a little cube toy, the type of ones she used to build a tower when she was a kid. Lila took it in her hands, making it jump carefully, a grin on her face. She then tried to concentrate completely and only on the small cube, until it fell off her hand in a burst of surprise : the cube was now a pale blue.

Realization fully hit her. She had a supernatural ability. And she didn’t know how to deal with that fact.

The next moments were a blur. She quickly picked up the cube and ran for what seemed like hours. When she regained consciousness, she found out with confusion that she had come back under the familiar stairs. Her breath was totally out of control and tears slowly continued to run down her cheeks. To say that she was panicked would be the understatement of the day. _I’m a mutant. A stupid, ugly ass, mutant. How is that even possible?_

Brushing away her tears with the back of her hand, she tried to remember everything she knew about mutations. She used to quite good at school, before everything happened, and was on top in biology. Yeah, she had learned a lot about genes. Spontaneous mutations in living beings were part of life’s evolution and contributed to the survival of species. They were responsible for the extreme diversity in nature.

But how did spontaneous mutations occur? Even for scientists it was a mystery. Something surely had happened in the last days that would explain all this. Lila bit her lip and passed a hand in her hair. She knew. She almost drowned less than 24 hours ago, which totally counted as a near death experience. Her body had been on such a great stress that she muted, like as a way of defense. Her body wanted to help her.

 _Well I would have prefer it didn’t_ , she sigh, looking at her hands. _Not like I have super strength or telepathy. No. I can make things change color. I have totally useless powers. Thanks, body, I’ll remember that one. How am I going to handle this mess?_

She would figure this out. Not like she really had a choice anyway. First thing, she had to discover what exactly was she capable of and she had to practice to control it. Damn it, she was just a teenage girl, homeless and alone in the world. Now that she was a mutant, she was the perfect outcast. She was the last person to be qualified to live with strange abilities of any sort. She lay down on the cold ground and closed her eyes, exhaustion taking over. Her stomach was screaming for food and Lila couldn’t remember the last time she actually ate something. Ignoring the pain, she fell asleep, secretly hoping she would wake up on the next morning without any superpowers.

Of course, it didn’t work like that at all. On the next morning, Lila was disappointed, though not surprised, that she was still able to make the small cube change colors. She put down the cube and decided it was damn time she hunt some food.

A year in the streets had taught Lila some tricks. She knew where to find some edible eating in shop’s garbage. It humiliated her each time she searched in dirty back alleys for pastries or a sandwich in a garbage bag, but it was either that or starving. She finally had come across a small muffin when she heard someone shouting at her.

“Hey! You! Go away!” A huge man that came from the backstore’s door made only a few giant steps and was already in front of the teenager. He grabbed her arm, squeezing it hard and approached his dirty face from hers, to the point they were only inches apart.

“If I see you one more time here, I swear I’m calling the police and you’ll rot in jail, you disgusting bitch!” spat the guy, pushing her on the ground with force. _That’s definitely going to leave some bruises,_ thought the teenager as a wave of pain hit her side.

Lila decided it seemed like a good time to run away and made a mental note to avoid the place. She slowed down the pace a few blocks down the street and smiled; the muffin was still in her hand, without any dirt on it (not that she really cared anyway, at this point). Taking out the packaging, she took a bite, satisfaction obvious on her face. She missed the wonderful cooking of Aunt Megan ; cookies, cakes, pies, almost anything. Lila chased the memory, not really wanting to think about it.

After she finished half the muffin and saved the precious other half for later, the young girl decided to make a plan. She would train herself to control those powers, no matter how long it had to take. Lila was determined and nothing could stop her.

***

Two weeks later, Lila had drawn some conclusions about her abilities. First of all, she wasn’t only able to change the colors of objects, she was also able to manipulate their temperature, which also seemed pretty useless at first. It’s not like she could stop a bank robbery by changing a black gun to a bright pink, though turning it so hot it was unusable could be useful.

Second, she realized she had made a mistake. She wasn’t able to alter material’s basic construction, she was instead able to manipulate the ways those objects were perceived by the human sensory receptors, and by extension, the human brain. In other words, she was able to induce hallucinations. She had been right when she had first thought she was having an hallucination, except it wasn’t because of her head injury.

Third, that power made her kinda dangerous, and it scared the hell out of her. She wasn’t really advanced for now, she had failed to manipulate auditory and olfactory receptors, but she had no doubt that with time, her powers would come to maturity.

Fourth, that meant that if she failed to gain control over them, she could hurt people around her and be a public menace. Which wasn’t exactly good news.

Fifth, she needed help. She sincerely had no doubt she wanted to use those powers to help others rather than causing pain (she had already seen enough people suffering), but she didn’t really know how she could do such a thing. Besides the powers, she was just an introvert awkward teenage girl, not really superhero material. So she needed someone to help her, someone that would know what to do, that could be a mentor.

She needed Spiderman.


	2. How to Make New Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy chapter 2 my friends :)

 

She had to meet Spiderman. Well, that was easy to say, but complicated to do.

 

Lila didn’t really like the fact that her plan implied that she had to talk to someone, because her shyness and anxiety were sometimes difficult to handle. And let’s face it, she wasn’t going to talk to Mr.Nobody, she had to speak to the Almighty Spiderman.

 

But then again, she didn’t really had a choice, if she wanted help.

 

She thought about giving up everything for a split second.

 

Spiderman usually started his rounds in New York around 4 PM and seemed to act a lot in Queens. She was going to wait there for him. Surely, he wasn’t going to be that difficult to find. She could do this.

 

***

 

She couldn’t do this.

 

She had gathered all her courage and had walked up to Queens. She had waited and, by hazard or chance, Spiderman now happened to be only a street corner away. Lila had been hiding behind it for nearly 15 minutes, trying to calm down her heart rate and unable to move.

 

_I can do this. I can do this. I can do this._ Her mind kept chanting the magical words and she took a step forward, feeling like she was falling off a cliff. Her voice felt hoarse, but the words somehow manage to come out her throat.

 

“Hmm… Spiderman? I think I may need your help…”

 

The hero turned around, hands on his hips, ready to jump into action.

 

“Sure! How can I help you?” She didn’t seem in danger so Peter was curious to know why she needed him.

 

“Not here,” she whispered as she motioned him to follow her.

 

Peter quickly thought that it could be a trap, but his spidey senses were perfectly quiet. Lila led him in a small alley. She felt like air was suddenly missing from the place and she desperately tried to catch her breath. _I’m standing in front of freaking Spiderman. Freaking Spiderman. And he’s waiting for me to tell him what the hell is wrong with me._ She placed her hand on her chest as if it could contain her heart inside her ribs.

“Go ahead,” encouraged Peter with a calm voice.

Lila decided that the best way to get out of all this stupid awkwardness was to go as quickly as possible and she accidentally stumbled over her words,

 

“IHAVESUPERPOWERS!”

 

Spiderman looked at her in shock. “You what…?”

 

Anxiety waves surrounding her, Lila continued to talk. “I know it sounds impossible, but I swear-”

 

“No, no, no you don’t understand,” Spiderman interrupted her. “I didn’t hear you correctly. What did you say?”

 

_Oh God. OH GOD. I need to calm down_. She took a couple of deep breaths and repeated, more calmly, “I have superpowers.”

 

Surprise hit Peter like a truck. For a second, Lila thought he was going to laugh at her and hold her breath before the young guy exploded, “THAT’S SO FREAKING AWESOME!” Peter was so excited he was almost jumping.

 

“Shhh!” If Spiderman continued to yell, everyone in New York was going to know her secret.

 

“Sorry. I’m sorry. Can you show me? Please?”

 

Lila reached out in her backpack to take the little toy and carefully placed it in the hand of Spiderman. She placed her hands above the cube, her face wincing because of her concentration. The toy slowly turned from a boring brown to a light pink, under the excitement of her witness. Before the superhero could say a word, the cube became glacial, then so burning that Peter let go of the toy and it fell on the ground, immediately taking its original form.

 

“Sorry! I didn’t want to hurt you. I’m not really good with them,” nervously said the teenager while putting away the cube on her bag. Peter wasn’t angry at all and rather felt impressed :

 

“THIS IS SO COOL!” Then remembering he wasn’t supposed to scream, he continued on a softer voice : “How do you do that?”

 

With a faint smile, Lila began to explain “I can manipulate external sensory receptors of humans. That means I can play with your photoreceptor cells and impact your vision, or thermoreceptors and then change the way you perceive temperature of an object.”

 

“So you don’t change the object. You just manipulate my brain.”

 

Lila nodded.

 

“Scary.” Spiderman took off his mask and presented himself. “I’m Peter, by the way.”

 

Shock was obvious on Lila’s face. “How old are you?! I thought you were, like, an adult, or something?”

 

“I’m 15,” answered Peter, a bit offended. “I’m not a kid. And how old are you? You don’t seem much older than me.”

 

“I’m also 15, so it’s fair enough. I’m Lila.” Peter stretched his hand and Lila shook it firmly. She now felt a lot more comfortable around him and was glad that her anxiety from earlier was gone.

 

“So, Lila, want to come to my place?”

 

***

Turns out the Almighty Spiderman lived in a small apartment with his lovely aunt that didn’t know her nephew was a superhero. Peter had taken off his suit and had warned Lila.

 

“Don’t ever mention that I’m Spiderman to May. And, of course, I won’t tell anything about your powers. I’ll tell you I met you in the neighborhood, okay?”

 

They were warmly welcomed by May, a grin on her face that said _“What? Peter has more than two friends?”_

 

Lila decided that she liked her. Her way of smiling made her think of her mother. May told them, while reaching for the phone, that she was going to order pizza. She asked her what sort she would like, but Lila didn’t know what to answer. She hadn’t had pizza for so long. Hell, she hadn’t had a real meal for so long. Knowing that May was expecting an answer and Lila not wanting to disappoint her, she named the first thing that came to her mind ;

 

“All-dressed, please.”

 

“Good choice,” responded Peter’s aunt, still looking for the phone.

 

Peter motioned her to come into his room and the teenagers sat on his bed. Lila noticed with a smile the many Star Wars posters and a few boxes of legos, next to maths textbooks. He was definitely a huge geek. Like Uncle Simon had been, before.

 

“Soooo…” Peter was hesitant, his hand passing through his short curly hair. “How did you got those powers? Were you, like, born with them?”

 

Lila looked down before answering. “No. I had them for 2 weeks now.” 2 weeks. It felt like forever. “I’m not exactly sure, but I think I gained them after my body was on too much stress. Like ‘near death experience’. My body tried to help, I guess.”

 

Peter looked at her with wide eyes. “Near death experience? What happened to you?”

 

Lila shifted on the bed. “There was a little boy. He fell into the river. Tried to save him. Almost drowned. You?”

 

“I got bit by a radioactive spider.” Admiration was written all over the teenager’s face, “But your story is way cooler than mine.”

 

She felt her cheeks going red and looked away. She didn’t really think any of those events were cool, but she managed to thank him.

 

“Okay. You also said you wanted help. Now, what can I do for you?”

 

Lila felt once again the anxiety creeping into her chest, but tried to ignore it.

 

“I just thought… maybe I could use some training from a real superhero, you know? Like superhero 101. Do’s and don’ts. Maybe like tips or help?” She felt the anxiety rising and buried her face into her hands. “God… I just don’t know what to do…I’m so helpless…”

 

She fought the urge to cry as she heard Peter’s gentle voice.

 

“It’s okay. You know, when I found out, I freaked out too. I thought I was gonna die. Wasn’t really the most pleasant days of my life.” He paused, gathering his thoughts. “But trust me when I say it gets better. I would know.”

 

Lila looked at him, thankful. The anxiety was slowly leaving her.

 

Peter added “But why would you bother? I mean, what’s your motive? You could just pretend you don’t have any superpowers at all and just continue to live normally.”

 

“No… I couldn’t. Not without knowing I could make a difference.” She bit her lips and continued, emotion in her voice. “I didn’t really had a happy life, you know? My parents… they died when I was just a kid. I was sent to live with my uncle and my aunt. I’ve just seen a lot. And I’m tired of seeing people suffering. I just want help. Put smile on faces. I feel like I could do so much, and it would be so wrong not to do anything.”

 

“I get it,” whispered the teenager. “My parents died too, when I was a kid. I get you.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

Peter quickly changed the subject, not wanting the conversation to end up in an awkward silence. “Would you like to meet Mr. Stark? ‘Cause, you know, he’s the one who designed my suit and everything. Maybe he could do something like that for you. He’s a real genius.”

 

Lila didn’t miss the sparkle of admiration in Peter’s eyes. The boy surely looked like he adored Mr. Stark. Still, meeting Spiderman had been a great deal and she wasn’t sure she could gather enough courage to meet freaking Tony Stark. Not now. It would be too much to handle.

 

“I think I would prefer to prove myself before… but I would like to meet him later,” replied the young girl with a soft smile.

 

That was the moment May decided to open the door, announcing joyfully; “The pizza is here!”

 

They all sat the small table and Lila restrained herself from stuffing two slices in her mouth at once. She took a small bite as her stomach celebrated.

 

“So, Lila, where do you go to school?” asked May, looking at her.

 

Lila paused. Well, she hadn’t been to school for a little bit more than a year, now, but she couldn’t really say that. Unless she told Peter and May the fact that she was homeless, which she didn’t plan on revealing. It was far too humiliating, and besides, she doubted they would understand she deserved it.

 

“I… I go to St Cross High School. It’s a great place.” It was only a half lie, since she really _did_ go to St Cross High. Before.

 

“Oh! That’s not far from where Peter’s going!” May smirked while gesturing her nephew.

 

“Yeah… I’m going to Midtown.” Peter confirmed between two bites.

 

“Wait… you are going to Midtown? Like, THE Midtown School of Sciences?” Lila was definitely impressed.

 

“Sciences AND technologies”, added May. “Peter’s quite a genius.”

 

Peter rolled up his eyes. His aunt laughed lightly. It felt good to have supper with some people instead of alone in a back street. It reminded her of family suppers she used to have with her mom and dad. And Yanissa. But she rather not think about Yanissa right now.

 

It had been a long time since she had felt this happy.

 

Pizza was soon all gone but they continued to laugh. May sure had her way to tell jokes or embarrassing stories involving Peter. It was almost dark outside when Lila decided that maybe she should go. Not that she wanted to, but she knew Peter had school the next day and May would probably go off to work.

 

Before leaving, Peter and Lila met again in his room.

 

“What’s your phone number? You know, so I can contact you or stuff.”

 

Lila tensed and answered quickly. “I don’t have one.” Making up an excuse, she continued, “My aunt and uncle don’t have much money.”

 

“Oh. It’s okay. No problem. Is it okay if we meet at 4 tomorrow? My place? So we can talk about what we are going to do and how we’re going to train you.” Peter seemed to be excited at the idea of training someone.

 

“Sure. See you tomorrow!”

 

Lila left the building, a knot in her chest. The evening had felt so great she wondered how she could ever be satisfied again with living under miserable stairs in the streets of New York.

 

_Maybe - just maybe - one day, things will be different._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to upload chapter 3 in a week or so but I can't make any promises...  
> Thank you so much for reading!


	3. Perks of being a superhero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhm uhm... so I know it's been a while (almost a year... pretty ashamed of myself), but here I am posting another chapter! Chapter 4 is almost ready so I promise it'll be out soon.  
> Please enjoy chapter 3 :)

 

“Rule number one: We don’t play ‘the floor is lava’ during missions.”

Lila and Peter were in his room, and the teenager had decided to introduce the girl to the ‘Ultimate Rules of Fighting Crime In New York and Around the World’. He had written down a couple of rules on a small board and looked like a real teacher.

“Rule number two: If you see people fighting, yell ‘can I please get a waffle?’ and then jump in to help. Rule number three: Before throwing something, you HAVE TO yell ‘YEET’.”

Lila’s eyebrows raised in confusion. “Why the hell would I do that? Is it, like, some kind of magic words or something?”

“You’ve never heard of vines?”

“What?”

“Vines!”

“Isn’t, like, some sort of app?”

Peter looked at her, almost offended. “Have you been on the internet since 2003?”

In fact, she hadn’t been on the Internet for over a year. Playing nervously with her hair, she made a lame excuse. “I just… don’t really go on social media.”

Peter seemed disappointed, but not wanting to show it. “Okay, then. We’ll come back to the rules later. Step 2: have you thought about a cool made-up name?”

“Kinda… How do you feel about Mirage?”

“That’s cool! But hear this: Mirage-Girl? Mirage-Woman?”

“No dude! That’s lame!”

Hands in the air as a sign of surrender, Peter gave up. “Fine. Mirage is fine. But don’t come to tell me in 2 months that Mirage-Woman would have been better! I warned you!”

Lila left out a small laugh.

“Ok. Now time for step 3. Get in loser, we’re going shopping.”

She understood the reference.

***

Standing in a small thrift shop in Queens, the two teenagers had been looking at clothes for the past 30 minutes. Lila wanted her costume to be black and blue, despite Peter telling her she would probably look like a villain. She had also told Peter that she didn’t have any money on her so she couldn’t pay, but her friend replied that she would just have to repay him later. She hoped ‘later’ wouldn’t be too soon, because she didn’t have money at all.

“What ya think of this?” shouted Peter while showing her a black cape.

“Dude, no capes. That’s like, number 1 rule of Edna Mode, queen of superheroes.”

Peter left out a smirk. Lila pulled out a pair of black leggings and a blue coat while searching for shoes. She found a pair of boots matching the leggings between two boxes and decided they would keep her warm enough for the coming winter. Maybe she could even wear them as Lila and not only as Mirage since her own shoes weren’t really efficient against the cold.

Her friend, seeing the boots, nodded in sign of approval.

“Would you like a mask?” Peter asked as he headed to the back of the store, beginning to search in another box.

“Yes, ‘cause there’s absolutely no way people are going to know who Mirage really is. Plus, they might not like the fact that I’m not so old.” She had no doubt that being 15 wasn’t really a credibility booster.

Lila joined him and soon, Mirage’s outfit was all chosen. She looked fierce and brave - things she didn’t believe she was. Still, she was going to fight, and hard.

She had the outfit. She wasn’t Lila anymore. She could be anyone she wanted.

***

The next day, Peter and Lila met up again in Peter’s room. The teenager told her it was time to activate phase 2 of his training plan, which meant he was going to train her physically. The kids went into an alley near the boy’s apartment and Peter placed on the ground several objects from different forms, colors, and sizes. Standing around with a pad and a pen, Peter looked like he was conducting a scientific experiment. Which wasn’t that far from the truth.

They trained like that for roughly a week, going out each day in the same alley, before going back to Peter’s apartment for a late supper with May. On the side note, Lila noticed how she started gaining weight because of the full meal she was provided. No doubt this helped her concentration while training. Peter had told May that Lila was part of the same internship program at Stark’s Industry, a credible lie that explained why they hang out every day.

The aspirant hero learned to create illusions for bigger objects and managed to alter the perceptions of color and temperature at the same time. She knew she would get better and better, but for now, she was doing a pretty good job.

Peter decided she was ready for a try in the streets and set it up for the next day.

That night, Lila couldn’t sleep.

***

A mix of excitement, fear, and joy rose in Lila’s throat. There she was, with Spiderman, watching over the streets of New York. Her first day as Mirage.

The evening started greatly. With her partner, she helped a little old man to cross the streets and she was proud of it. The grandpa had asked Spiderman who she was, and the teenager responded joyfully, “She’s Mirage. My sidekick.”

Lila smiled proudly. Right now, she wasn’t a little homeless teenager, she was a hero (even if she hadn’t really saved anyone, yet).

They also came across a young mother that was struggling to hold her three grocery bags and her crying baby. Spiderman lifted the bags and carried them to the lady’s car while Mirage helped to calm the baby.

But, of course, things couldn’t be that easy for Lila. Just around the time the teenagers thought about going home, Peter stood up abruptly and she could guess a worried face underneath his mask.

“What’s going on?” whispered the teen. Damn, Peter’s stress was contagious.

“I think I heard something. This way!”

Peter jumped to the ground, Lila following close. They turned a street corner and Peter spotted the little drug store from where he’d heard the noise. Lila looked closely through the window, trying to figure out what was going on.

That’s when her blood turned icy cold in her veins.

Inside was a young man threatening an even younger cashier with a gun. She was crying and looked totally desperate.

Losing no time, Spiderman jumped into action and left a mildly terrorized Lila on the sidewalk without even realizing it.

“What’s now, uh? You were in desperate need to get punched?” smirked the teenager, looking with a bit of sass at the big guy.

Lila tried to follow him inside, but her feet refused to move. Her brain replayed the memory of her sister’s death again and again and again and again for what felt an eternity. Inside, the man had grabbed the cashier above the counter and moved his gun to her fragile head.

It’s the scream that made Lila dazed out.

“YOU COME CLOSE TO ME AND SHE DIES, YA HEAR?” The man, his face red with rage, didn’t look like he was joking.

The little cashier, looking close to losing consciousness, repeated a few times, “Please, I don’t know the code to the cash register… please leave me alone.”

The robber looked even angrier. It was certainly not how he had expected this to go.

Mirage entered the little shop, ignoring her shaky breath, as Spiderman was trying to calm the man. “Look, dude, just stop. Drop your gun and everything’s gonna be just fine.”

The angry robber tightened his grip on the young girl while eyeing Mirage. “Who’s she?”

Spiderman used the distraction to shoot his web on the gun, and then quickly knocked out the mugger. Mirage helped the crying cashier to get out of the shop, nearly carrying her: the girl was just about to pass out. She left her out on the sidewalk to come back and help her friend.

The man was currently fighting Spiderman, hitting him hard on the face. Peter took a moment to adjust, but that was enough time for the robber to pull out a knife. Before Spiderman could move, the man had his knife aiming for the hero’s chest.

If it hadn't been for Lila, things could have turned pretty bad.

Without even thinking, she had her hands near the knife and manage to turn it scorching. It fell to the ground, the mugger holding his hand in pain.

“ _What_ the fuck are you?” screamed the man, as Spiderman tied him up with his webs.

“I’m Mirage.”

***

Sirens becoming louder and louder, Spiderman and Mirage escaped in the dark. When they were sure they were safe, they took off their mask, allowing Lila to check on Peter’s face. His left cheek was red, with a fine trail of blood coming out of his lip, but he otherwise seemed fine. Peter didn’t even have a concussion, he’d just been a little roughed.

“May’s not going to like that,” whispered Peter while holding his cheek.

“You’ll probably live,” answered Lila without missing a heartbeat.

They walked into a dark alley and quickly changed themselves before heading back to their ‘top secret base’ aka Peter’s home.

May left out a small scream when she saw the face of Peter.

“PETER BENJAMIN PARKER! WHAT HAPPENED?”

Her nephew explained as convincingly as possible that he fell in the stairs, and May didn’t really seem to buy it, but she let it go.

“And you, honey, are you okay?” asked May with a gentle tone.

“I’m great, thanks!” Lila answered with too much enthusiasm, to hide the fact she was still shaking from the previous robbery.

May went to the fridge to take some ice for Peter’s face and Lila decided that it was time for her to go away.

As she walked in the streets, a hurried man bumped her like she was nothing, and Lila realized that, in fact, she wasn’t Mirage anymore. She had come back to old-self pathetic Lila, and she hadn’t been ready for that.

Lila came to sit down under her stairs and sighed.

She wasn’t a hero. She needed a hero. And that was a big difference.


	4. Maybe I lied

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yessss another chapter and it hasn't been a year haha!  
> I'm really excited about this chapter, hope you like as much as me <3

 

That morning, Peter Parker woke up earlier than intended. It took him a few seconds to understand that it was his phone that was ringing incessantly, not because of an alarm, but because of a phone call.

 

The name ‘Tony Stark’ flashed on the screen and Peter’s heart missed a beat. He almost fell on the floor but finally manage to catch the phone and answered with a too excited voice.

 

“Mr.Stark?”

“Hey, kid.” On the other end, the billionaire seemed calm. “How are you doing?”

 

“G… great! And you, sir?” Surely, Mr.Stark hadn’t called just to ask him ‘how he was doing’. Something was up.

 

Iron Man replied a rapid “Good, thank you” while the teenager remembered every bad thing he did in his life, stressing out.

 

“So I heard on the news that you had a new friend on your tours?”

 

_Oh. That._ Yeah, he hadn’t talked to his mentor in the last few weeks, both being too occupied. The news had released some pictures of Spiderman and Mirage with big titles, which hadn’t really make Lila happy.

 

“She’s really cool, actually. Very nice. She has cool superpowers.”

 

“Can you tell me more about her?” Tony seemed really tired over the phone, and Peter thought he probably spent the night - or those before - awake.

 

“Hum, yeah. Her name’s Lila Sherman. She’s 15, goes to St-Cross. She can manipulate external sensory receptors of the human body.”

 

_Just great_ , Tony thought, rubbing his head. Another freaking teenager. Couldn't adults become mutants? No? Only young teens who were far more likely to get hurt? Exasperated, the man replied to his protege that he would “do his researches” on the girl and then call him back.

 

Peter hung up the phone, thinking about the fact that Mirage was his sidekick, and that he was Iron Man’s sidekick so that it made Mirage Iron Man’s sidekick’s sidekick. He giggled softly in his bed and fell back asleep.

 

***

 

Tony didn’t lose any time and, as soon he hung up with Peter, he began searching with FRIDAY for anything about Lila Sherman. Maybe she was sent by Hydra to infiltrate the Avengers (except it would be weird to team up with Spiderman since he wasn’t officially connected with other Avengers). Maybe she really was an honest teen - like Peter - but Tony’s frantic mind had trouble accepting this possibility.

 

As Tony looked up on the screen, he realized something was weird; he couldn’t find anything on Lila about the last 18 months. The last trace of her was a note in her St Cross High School’s report, indicating that her uncle and aunt were pulling her off the school to send her to another school (Tony noted on the side that she was really good at school, almost as good as Peter). Strangely, he couldn’t find to which school she had been transferred, and why.

 

So the girl lied to Peter about her school. That surely wasn’t a good sign. But why give out her real name if she really was looking to infiltrate the Avengers? Hydra would have provided her a perfect fake identity. And really, was a 15 years old girl that much of a threat for them? Though, the facts still stayed there. In her year and a half absence of the world, this girl could have been recruited by anyone to do any job. Chances were she was a spy.

 

He’d have to talk to Peter about this. He’d have to check again on that girl. _Not now_ , Tony realized as he looked to his watch, mentally listing all the things he had to accomplish.

 

“FRIDAY? Would you please call Peter and tell him I would like to meet him and Lila tomorrow at 4 PM?”

 

He drank the rest of his cold coffee, wishing days had more than 24 hours.

 

***

Even though it had been 2 weeks since her first appearance as Mirage, Lila still struggled to find confidence as she walked in the company of Spiderman, though she felt a lot more comfortable than when she started. She definitely didn’t enjoy patrolling as much as Peter, but she was glad she could be useful.

 

This afternoon, however, her mind was distracted. Peter had told her about Tony Stark’s call, and the meeting the next day. She already knew she would have to meet the man soon or later, but wasn’t really looking forward to it. She liked the man, for sure, but Iron Man certainly wasn’t anybody, and just thinking about meeting him made her nervous.

 

She sight, looking at Spiderman. It had been rainy on New York’s streets and the truth was that Lila was totally soaked and cold. They had both agree to finish early today, and that was probably one of the best ideas they ever had. Peter didn’t really mind the rain, though, with his super suit and everything, but that wasn’t the case for Lila.

 

As the afternoon went on, Lila felt more and more strange. The rain hadn’t stopped running on her face for most of the day, and she knew what was coming. She would wake up sick tomorrow morning, she was sure of it.

 

“Peter, you don’t mind if we start going back? I’m kinda cold.”

 

“Yeah, sure!” Peter couldn’t help but notice that his friend was a bit pale. “Hey, I’ll let you borrow some sweatshirt and socks when we go back to my place if you want.”

 

Lila smiled. Peter was such a great friend, always taking care of others. Thank god she had him in her life.

 

The teens came back at Parker’s apartment and found Aunt May in the kitchen, burning pasta. Lila sat down on the sofa and the weight of the day suddenly crushed on her.

 

“So Lila looks like we’ll have to order thaï again. What do you want?”

 

May stopped dialing on her phone when she spotted how pale Lila was and came close to her.

 

“You sure you’re okay, Lila?” asked the woman, a bit of a concern in her voice.

 

“Yeah, I think so,” she answered, though she felt sick. She just wanted to get back home. To Aunt Megan and Uncle Simon. To eat soup cooked by her aunt. To hear her uncle signing her to sleep.

 

May made a strange face, like she didn’t believe her, and placed her hand on Lila’s forehead in a motherly way.

 

“Honey, you’re burning up.”

 

“I am?” was all Lila found to say. The walls were moving in slow motion.

 

“Come, honey, I’ll drive you home.”

 

It took her a few seconds to get what was wrong. _No, no, no, no, no, no_. Her heartbeat increased as the words repeated themselves in her head. She hadn’t really planned to reveal she lived on the streets, like ever. Lila didn’t think Peter and his aunt would react very well if they learned it, neither would they if they found out why.

 

May was already standing by the door, coat on and keys in her hands. Peter was putting on his shoes.

 

She didn’t know what to do. Her head felt strange, and she didn’t feel like arguing May about walking back. She got up, hoping to some miracle on the way. May opened up the door and the sound of the heavy rain filled up the apartment.

 

***

 

Inside the car, things didn’t look better though. At each turn, May was looking back in her mirror, waiting for the next instructions. Lila thought about giving false directions and walk the rest, but she really didn’t have the energy. Plus, she was almost certain May would wait for her to go inside an apartment before leaving. After a while, they finally entered one of New York’s poorest neighborhoods. Lila closed her eyes.

 

“Lila... is this really where you live?” Peter couldn’t believe his eyes as the car passed in front of dirty apartments. Of course, he knew Lila’s family didn’t have a lot of money, but he didn’t know to which extent. He turned to look at his friend.

 

“Aunt May, you should probably stop the car,” stated the teen as calmly as possible. On the back seat, Lila was crying hard and seemed to have trouble to breathe.

 

Peter jumped to sat beside her, looking nervously as his aunt also came to sit in the back.

 

“Lila, what’s going on?” Peter tried his best not to let his voice show his worry, not wanting his friend to panic even more. May placed her hand on the girl’s head, in a reassuring gesture. Lila still not responding, she tried a few words :

 

“Honey, you can talk to us. Peter and I just want to help you.”

 

Lila’s face was buried in her hands, her whole body shaking. She felt like too many emotions were trapped inside her, and the more she tried to keep them inside, the more they fought to get out. There was no point in trying to control the pain or the fear, they were just too strong at the moment. Maybe it was the fever, maybe it was the day. Either way, she didn’t really care.

 

“I… I just want to go home,” she let out in between tears and shaky breaths.

 

“Of course, honey, we will bring you home.” May continued to pet her hair, wishing Lila would calm down a bit. “You just have a fever. Everything’s gonna be alright, honey.”

 

“No… it’s not that…” Lila looked up to her friends. “I’m just not sure… I mean… The truth is… I don’t really have a place to go.”

 

“What do you mean?” asked Peter in a whisper.

 

“I’m… kinda homeless.”

 

Lila heard quite clearly the shocked sound that came out of May and Peter’s mouth. Neither of them had expected that she supposed.

 

May reached out her arms to hug Lila, Peter joining her. Lila wasn’t sure, but at some point, she thought that May was also crying. She didn’t even know if she was still crying herself.

 

May’s voice was clear between the sobs and the pouring rain outside the car :

“Don’t you worry, honey. We’ll bring you to our home.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Sooo Lila meets Peter next chapter!  
> I've not decided yet how fast I'll update this fic, but comments motivate me to write faster :)


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